Wednesday, 30 January 2013

Day 2

Well as you know from yesterdays post, the 25 hours after the treatment I was only allowed to eat organic food. It's pretty amazing when you follow the journey that life takes you, where you can find yourself.

We looked up some organic restaurants in Tel Aviv and chose one for dinner last night and one for breakfast today. We went to 'Taste of Life' last night, which upon entry didn't come anywhere close to resembling what we might call a fine dining experience. Mum laughed as we looked at everything on the menu that my fiance would describe as 'pigeon food'; bean burgers, veggie burgers, juices and salads.

There was a buffet, so we walked over to that and a man with what sounded like an American accent, even when he spoke in Hebrew, explained that Tuesdays are buffet day. Then an older, large lady walked in with plates full of food from the kitchen and started speaking to him in English with a strong American accent.

We sat down at the bar, ordered food and drinks and asked one of them where they were from.

It turns out they are the Black Hebrew Israelites, a group of people mostly of Black African ancestry situated mainly in the United States who believe they are descendants of the ancient Israelites. Many of them moved over to Israel just after the civil rights movement in the States and have continued their migration ever since. They are given permanent residence, not citizenship, but some of them even serve in the Israeli army and are then given citizenship. They speak English amongst themselves with strong Chigaco accents but speak fluent Hebrew and integrate into society aside from their education.

They like to educate their own children and live in a kind of Kibbutz lifestyle. All their businesses are owned by the community, not by one person, and they all have shifts to help out in different businesses and others look after the children or do chores in their community. They live in their own kind of kibbutz.

They say it is more of a lifestyle than a religion, which I identify with so much, and their main ethos is TO LIVE! Everything about life is what they love and what they do. They don't eat anything which has lived or come from something living, so they are all vegans and eat only organic. They wear only cotton and fabrics that are good for the body and don't harm the environment and generally live a bit like Buddhists I guess.

I was so intrigued by this community that I had never heard of that I kept asking question after question and hoped that I wasn't annoying them. But what I learnt is that no matter where life takes you, if you just follow it, you get led to the most interesting things and people, and you learn lessons you never would have learnt.

This morning we ate breakfast at an organic cafe by the market in Tel Aviv and experienced the real boho lifestyle of tel aviv. The whole cafe was filled with bohemian musicians, artists, writers and other such creative people and I felt right at home. I have been loving the organic food and luckily in Tel Aviv it is easy to find.

My 25 hours were up at 1pm when we met with the wedding planner and had some other wedding related meetings but I am excited to see what the next treatment throws at me!

The side affects this time were not awful, I kept getting a pounding headache every few hours and I feel tired, as always after treatment but I had a rest this afternoon and am now preparing to go for dinner with a friend.

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About Me

Author of 'My Enemy, My Friend' - about surviving Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis. Patient Spokesperson for the Royal London Hospital for Integrated Medicine. Trustee of the British Homeopathic Association. Public Speaker. Campaigner. JRA Survivor. Animal Lover. Positivity lover! Please follow my 'written documentary' on what it is like to live with Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis.